Walter and Aazealh are joined by a special, brainy guest to answer some of the most-asked questions about Berserk. Is there really a difference between fate and causality? Maybe apostles aren't so bad? What's an idolm@ster, anyway? Listen along as we decapitate every misconception in existence.

Timestamps for all questions:00:02:40 - 1. What's the difference between Fate and Causality in Berserk?00:07:55 - 2. Why doesn't Guts just use the beherit to get more power and defeat Griffith?00:11:30 - 3. Did Griffith even have a choice at the Eclipse? Is there "free will" in Berserk?00:15:13 - 4. Griffith's sacrifice is incomplete because Guts and Casca are still alive.00:17:05 - 5. If Griffith is the Falcon of Light does that make Guts the Falcon of Darkness?00:22:15 - 6. Why were they on the boat for so long?00:27:49 - 7. The Dragonslayer must have gotten a big upgrade from killing the sea god.00:30:05 - 8. What happened during the Incarnation Ceremony?00:37:13 - 9. Who is the "moonlight boy?"00:44:43 - 10. What is "evil" and "evil" power in Berserk?00:48:18 - 11. What are the apostles, and how are they made? 00:51:19 - 12. What happened on top of Ganishka anyway, and why did it result in the world changing?01:01:55 - 13. What is the Beast of Darkness? 01:05:52 - 14. What's the relationship between the Beast and the Berserk's Armor?01:09:19 - 15. Beherits require blood to use.01:10:52 - 16. Is the Idea of Evil real? Is it considered canon? 01:13:17 - 17. Casca enjoyed being raped / Casca was already raped by apostles.01:19:04 - 18. Misconceptions about Kentarou Miura01:33:20 - 19. Why are astral wounds different from physical wounds?01:37:20 - 20. Elves only encompass winged beings like Puck and Ivalera.01:40:25 - 21. The Black Swordsman Arc spoils the Golden Age Arc.

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One of the series' biggest moments is here. We go through each page of the incarnation of Femto and close out the Conviction Arc.

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Things get phallaphobic in Casca's dream world. We also talk all about the new Grunbeld novel and recap Season 2 of the anime, which recently concluded.

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We dive deeper into Casca's mind, getting her thoughts on key moments in the Golden Age. Farnese takes a huge step forward. The mountain looms forebodingly on the horizon.

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Our thoughts on the prospect of a Berserk novel, 3 bros bro'n out over brewskis, Casca's defenses, Farnese's future and more in our review of Ep 349.

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We finally dive into Casca's mind and see the calficied damage of the Eclipse. Stick around until the end for about 20 minutes of us gushing over Zelda: BotW.

PS: I finally did it. I said the wrong number podcast at the start. When you hear "Episode 86," just know that you aren't suddenly a visitor from the future, I merely said the wrong number.

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Isidro the leaping fish, a lost page, Mozgus shows his true plumage, Puck shines, a hint at Azan's past, hermetically-sealed Nina — all this and more in our recap of the first half of Volume 21.

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Events coalesce as Albion's destruction continues, bringing Volume 20 to a swift end. Guts comes face to face with a branded land, and a vision of his enemies. We absorb one of the biggest spectacles in all of Berserk, as we round the corner on yet another.

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We return to our re-read project to dive into Volume 20, as the fall of Albion begins, covering all the action high above and down below. But the star of the show is the Beherit Apostle.

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We return to our re-read project to wrap up Volume 19, diving deep into the spark that ignites Albion's destruction — the spectral ooze.

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We can't wait to talk all about the latest episode of Berserk, bringing us on the doorstep of a long awaited moment in the series, one that could transform it forever. We also provide a preview for the upcoming Berserk Official Guidebook, review the new Berserk-themed Hirasawa Susumu album, and thank our Patreon donors for their continued support.

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We've finally made it to Elfhelm proper, where we meet a character we've been anticipating for more than a decade. Hear our thoughts on this grand reveal, and another huge revelation about the Berserk world.

Timestamps via @Luizao

00:00 Introduction01:16 Sovereign of the Flower Storm (Gender)05:36 Character Design08:45 Ivalera attitude10:45 Inhabitants of Elfhelm14:57 Elves and magic users relationship19:00 Scale of the tree and the origin of elves21:23 Sovereign vs God Hand24:13 Chich25:08 SFS influence on the Gurus27:22 SFS implication on the current world30:23 Rosine design resemblance to Sovereign34:14 Sovereign coloring36:02 Dark Horse and other mistranslations40:10 Barytes discussion50:52 Puck's brothers54:31 Puck and Magnifico's coup attempt1:00:56 Magnifico's future1:05:44 The throne room1:06:35 Sovereign and Guts' past 1:09:51 Current state of Berserk

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I would love to give it a modern redesign, but my skills are very limited. I've done a mock-up in photoshop (which I won't share here, for fear of being mocked), but I would also love some input from anyone who is willing to share a few hours of their time in helping it look and feel great.

If you're interested, please send me a PM and we can chat! Thanks in advance.

It's been several years since I've followed the series episodically, because I prefer reading Inoue's stories at the consistent pace that a volume allows. I'm also comfortable with waiting for official releases. So, I check in every six months or so to see how much material I've missed, and when I can pick up the next Viz edition. As it turns out, I haven't missed much at all. The last Vagabond release was #327 in May 2015, about 5 chapters into what would be Volume 38. There's been no word since then.

So, I began re-reading a large chunk of it, starting from the point where I felt both Musashi and Inoue lost their momentum: Volume 28 (directly after the Yoshioka battle). How did I feel about the series after all this time? How did I feel about it being seemingly cast adrift, still several volumes from its conclusion?

I've fallen in and out of love with Vagabond over the past several years, and it stems from my feelings about Inoue and his dedication to the story. It's always been a series that sort of lives in my head. I admire not only the fantastic art and characters Inoue creates, but also the philosophical concepts that go beyond the page. Inoue has always nailed those three elements, making them feel larger than the medium itself. He does the same in his other works. But it's Vagabond's story that Inoue seems to have trouble with. The thing that ties those three elements together and pushes them along. And I would guess that the trouble is due in large part to it not necessarily being his story to tell. Musashi's exploits are legendary in Japan, and there have been numerous adaptations and incarnations of the character for more than a hundred years. Inoue has of course made changes along the way, particularly with the characterizations, which now feel entirely like Inoue's creations. But the core remains the same as Yoshikawa's great novel, and that's more true as we edge close to the ending.

That's one weight hanging on the shoulders of Inoue. The other was hinted at during his interview about The Last Story: His anxiousness about bringing a story about a man who's murdered more than a hundred people to a satisfying conclusion. What will Musashi's legacy be? It feels like wrapping up this story has become a burden to him more than a work of love and passion. That sense comes primarily from an implacable feeling after reading the recent volumes numerous times, but also due to Inoue appearing to indicate his intent to wrap things up (The Last Manga exhibition, the Ganryujima cameo, Matahachi talking about the story he's telling), and then expanding the story in a different, lengthy direction instead. There could be a logic here that will make sense when all is said and done, but in the moment, it's hard to judge favorably.

So, with all of those feelings swimming in my head, I read from 28 to 37 this weekend to see if my previous feelings still held up. Like Musashi, I'm capable of changing my opinions of things as I grow with time. So, was it just my impatience getting the better of me? Is Inoue actually a master storyteller who simply took on too many other projects simultaneously? Is the farming sequence really as long and drawn out as it felt before?

Well, I do think I have been a bit impatient. The slowed releases in recent years along with this "adrift" storyline for Musashi weren't a very encouraging pairing, even if there were some great scenes with the farmers (I previously had missed the parallel between Musashi and Shusaku. Shusaku initially refuses to share his higher quality seeds and farming knowledge with others. Musashi refuses to become an instructor, sharing his unique perspective of the sword with others). I do think Inoue can eventually bring the story to a satisfying conclusion, and I also think I now have a sense of what that direction will be. It's just that it's taken him a LOOOOOOOOOONG time (literally 10 volumes) to establish this interim period before Musashi arrives at Kokura, which began after the Yoshioka fight. He needed to demonstrate the pivot Musashi must make in his life, after being haunted by his murderous lifestyle, yet still dedicated to the sword.

The one big thing I feel like I've missed in previous readings are the scenes where Musashi is thinking about the way of the sword without killing someone, and what that might mean to people. He was asked about it in jail, it was alluded to by the sculptor, and Musashi thinks about it again when he's training the women. I believe Inoue is setting up his Musashi to be the man who fundamentally changes the culture around "the way of the sword" from being about killing people to where it is in Japan's heritage today: the pursuit of perfection without being focused on death. That would be consistent with what he's learned over the years from his various masters. But will it be consistent with how his duel with Kojiro ends...? How will Inoue cross that bridge? If I knew, I'd probably be a lot less interested in reading it

So, that's where I landed. Hopeful, despite the extended hiatus. The series is in a promising place, and my re-read helped refresh my sense of Inoue's direction. But boy, it's been a rough few years, guys...

Episode 77: Great Gurus (Ep. 345) (1h 54m)We sit down with a bunch of old people to talk about a bunch of old people in Elfhelm for our review of Episode 345, including the secrets of Berserk's ancient world and Guts' value to the future. We even make some time at the end of the show to talk about the new anime with a guest who hasn't yet been exposed to its particular brand of terrible.

Timestamps (thanks to Luizao):

00:00 Introduction

Episode 345

01:45 Initial impressions04:58 The common room (+Cats & Chess in Berserk)08:31 The Great Gurus13:20 Flora compared with other wizards15:09 Danan17:46 Guts' impatience19:58 Elf King and elves in Skellig24:15 Food panel27:16 Circular table preamble31:20 Ged's explanation of the Giant Tree36:37 Road of Elves/Road of Dragons43:02 Puck's Beherit and its final purpose48:14 Forest of Spiritual Trees and the ancient chaos55:28 Ganishka's transformation1:01:51 Guts and Griffith's relationship and the world transformation1:07:16 Falconia and 1000 years ago world1:12:18 Group reaction to Guts+Griffith connection1:15:07 Next episode possible Guts' story1:16:55 Griffith's will1:20:18 Rickert's theory (Femto=Ideal Griffith)/Griffith's ambition1:25:56 The God Hand in 3461:28:09 The pace could lead us to unexpected events

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Miura's art style has been a hot topic since Berserk returned this year in Ep 344. And while I've seen discussion range in various places from "all digital" to "no digital," I'm actually finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the position that he's not using any digital techniques, even with his manga pages. Obviously he showed off his very digital paintings in Vol 38, but how much of that is translating into his pages? I'd say some but I would wager he's still using a traditional pen and ink as a base for these.

The most glaring thing to me was this 2-page spread in Ep 344. Does anything stick out to you in these images? It's those bushes. That's from the official YA scans, and here is the same page from my copy of Vol 38, there's a preview image at the end of Ep 344. No change. Those bushes still stick out from everything else on the page, and they look digitally manipulated to me. We also know that Miura's team of assistants has started using digital screentones to create textures. Traditional screentones have been used since the 90s on clothing, capes, backgrounds and whatnot. But now they're almost certainly digital. The textures on the witches' outfits is where the move to digital is the most prominent.

My assessment, as a non artist, is that those who say he's not using ANY digital techniques don't appear to be correct, but that we also can't say for sure he's using ONLY digital techniques. It looks to me more like he's taking advantage of some digital tools on top of his traditional pen and ink drawings to increase efficiency.

Either way, I'm interested in hearing the opinions of those who can actually recognize the smoking gun of an illustrator software being used, because I don't really see it in the line art itself.

We discuss the new scenario written by Miura and how it stacks up alongside all the other problems with this new adaptation.

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Things go smoother in the second episode of Berserk's latest animated adaptation, but it also gets a bit weird. Hear Walter and Aazealh's impressions of the latest episode and the immediate future.

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Because our old chat room is long defunct, and everyone wants to chat in real-time about the new anime, I've launched a Discord channel for Berserk discussion.

You can ask either me or Aazealh for an invite by PM and we'll hook you up.

Please register with your SKnet username so we can know who you are. If you already have a Discord account or want to use another name, please post in this thread to say what it is in order to cut down on confusion for everyone involved.

The other cool thing about Discord is that it allows for seamless group voice chat. If you have a mic hooked up, just click the title of the voice channel ("Berserk_Talk") and you'll immediately join, and be able to talk with whoever is in there. Otherwise, the main chat is just all Berserk talk.

Enjoy, and if you have any questions or issues, don't hesitate to ask. I'll be in and out of the room throughout the day, so please keep it civil, and ave fun!

Walter and Aaz share their takes on the new Berserk anime, the day that it aired.

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